‘Coach, I’m struggling, please help me’
His whole body was already drenched in sweat. Han Jun-soo, wearing only a lexguard, one of the catcher’s protective gear, was busy catching his breath as he repeated the drill of shuttling the ball 10 meters away while simultaneously moving it with his bare hands.
Coach Jin Gap-yong, a former legendary catcher in the KBO League, and Kim Sang-hoon sweated on the field with Han Jun-soo in the heat. Compared to other positions, catchers have a lot to prepare before and after a game. Especially in the summer, they have to wear heavy catcher’s equipment and stay in the game until the ninth inning, so strong physical strength is a must.
The weather in Gwangju for the three-game midweek series was hot all three days, with daytime highs of over 33 degrees and heat warnings in effect.
Han’s coaches, former legendary catchers Jin Gap-yong and Kim Sang-hoon, worked hard to develop the young catcher in the sweltering conditions. At Coach Kim’s command, Han Jun-soo caught the ball with his bare hands and quickly moved to the other side. The number of balls was five, but after one set of round-tripping, he was breathing heavily.
Han Junsu’s foolishness about his difficulty didn’t work. Instead, Tiger coach Kim Sang-hoon told him what he needed to work on and prepared him for the next set.
After completing the drills, which helped him develop the agility and stamina needed to be a catcher, Han Jun-soo exhaled harshly and wiped the sweat from his face.
Recently, Han Jun-soo has been performing well as a backup catcher for KIA, which acquired starting catcher Kim Tae-gun via trade. The Tiger coaches, Kim Sang-hoon and Jin Gap-yong, both former catchers, have been giving him advice to help him grow as a young catcher with a lot of potential.
Meanwhile, KIA won one game and lost one game in the previous two games. The players practiced in the sweltering weather in hopes of winning the series. On this day, if KIA captures Kiwoom and Doosan loses to KT, KIA will move up to fifth place and take a step closer to fall baseball.먹튀검증
Conversely, if KIA loses and Lotte wins, they could slip to seventh place.
A crucial game with more than one win at stake. KIA has announced Jang Jae-young, who raised Panoni, as their starting pitcher.